APPENDIX 32
Memorandum by St Edmundsbury Borough Council
The Local Government Association drew my attention
to your inquiry on innovations in citizen participation. I have
enclosed a leaflet[11]
which summarises the comprehensive programme, Working with Communities,
developed and implemented by St Edmundsbury Borough Council to
engage citizens in local governance. Also included is a copy of
a Committee report which set out a key strand of the programme,
our community involvement strategy, Empowered Citizens.
What is distinctive about Working with Communities
is that it concentrates not on a narrow range of participation
mechanisms but on changing the culture of citizen-authority interaction
across the board. We were one of just two local authorities in
the UK selected in an Improvement & Development Agency case
studies report for the holistic approach we adopted towards promoting
citizen participation. When talk of innovation so often focuses
on unusual techniques, what Working with Communities demonstrates
is that real innovation can be found in encouraging and empowering
staff across an authority to engaging individuals and groups in
the community to work with us in determining what should be done
for the good of all. When so many public sector organisations
embrace what in effect are highly individualistic methods of consultation
and user feedback, we moved forward with a decidedly communitarian
model.
As Working with Communities has been primarily
about enhanced staff awareness and empathy in engaging with citizens,
there were no significant additional costs. The benefits can only
be measured in terms of the greater sense of belonging, trust
and co-operation citizens gain from their experience over time.
Even people who on particular occasions disagree strongly with
the Council's decisions acknowledge that they have had good opportunities
to talk things through, recognising the Council can rarely, if
ever, meet everyone's demands.
The Working with Communities approach can be
replicated in other central and local government bodies. It would
strengthen representative government considerably by making citizens
feel that they are a vital part of the democratic governance of
their communities beyond voting in periodic elections.
If after reading this letter and the enclosed
materials, you would like to know more about Working with Communities,
please do not hesitate to contact me.
Dr Henry Tam
11 Not printed, but available on request from the
Chief Executive's Department, St Edmundsbury Borough Council. Back
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